Three shot dead as violence mars Ekiti East bye-election

Three people were reported to have lost their lives in Ekiti State on Saturday as violence marred the bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fill the vacant seat of Ekiti East Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly.

The vacancy arose following the death of an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker in the State House of Assembly, Hon Juwa Adegbuyi.

The election which began in a peaceful manner suddenly went awry following sporadic shooting from political thugs.

An eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the arm-wielding attackers emerged from an unknown place and started shooting sporadically into the air to scare away voters and electoral officers.

He explained that the thugs released a volley of gunshots on voters at ward 007 unit 007 where Senator Biodun Olujimi voted and she narrowly escaped unhurt by whiskers.

According to him, a female police officer manning the polling station died instantly while two others gave up the ghost at the Omuo-Ekiti General Hospital where they were rushed to for treatment.

-The Nation